• Jorge Posada played with a No. 15 decal on his mask in honor of Thurman Munson, whose funeral was 30 years ago today. “Just something I wanted to do,” he said. “He means a lot to me.”

Posada is reading Marty Appel’s new book on Munson.

• Joe Girardi was in a weird mood after the game. He refused to say why he went to the mound to speak to Joba Chamberlain in the first inning. According to Chamberlain, it was to get the signs straightened out. I suspect it was more to keep Chamberlain and Posada from killing each other. Then Girardi actually said he thought Chamberlain pitched pretty well, which obviously is silly.

• Hideki Matsui has 15 RBI in his last 21 games.

• John Smoltz is stumbling around out there, like Steve Carlton at the end of his career. He has an 8.32 ERA and has allowed 59 hits and 19 walks in 40 innings. Asked what Boston planned to do, Francona didn’t pretend everything was OK. “I know why you would ask that,” he said. “But I don’t think that five minutes after a game is the right time to come to a conclusion on that.”

• Jed Lowrie fouled a pitch of his arm and felt tingling in his fingers, which is why he left the game. His status is uncertain.

• Johnny Damon is 13 of his last 27 with seven RBI.

• A-Rod has gone 66 at-bats without a homer. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s his longest streak within a single season. He went 77 ABs from 1997-98 and 102 at the start of his career in 1994 to 1995.

• The Yankees walked 12 and won a game for the first time since August 29, 1967 when they beat Boston 4-3 in the Bronx. How in the world did they walk 12 and allow three runs?

• Boston has lost three straight and 11 of 18. “We’re playing like (garbage) right now,” Dustin Pedroia said. “That’s obvious. We went into Tampa and they beat up on us. We came here and haven’t played very good. We have to play better. We’ve hit a stretch here where we’re playing the best teams in the division. We need to win.”

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I broke up the game post tonight for the first time at the request of some readers. Please let me know how you feel about that, whether it’s helpful in terms of keeping the conversation going. I’m willing to do whatever makes it better for the community.

We had 3,800+ comments in 24 hours on Thursday, a new record. Thanks to everybody for reading and being a part of this.

UPDATE, 12:50 p.m.: Forgot this. Mark Melancon denied all intent when he hit Pedroia. “Why would I do that?” he said. Pedroia was steamed because the first pitch was over his head. “It was kinda surprising,” Pedroia said. “It goes over your head — that’s not something to mess around with obviously. I don’t know why they’d be throwing at me if they were, especially in that situation where it’s a blowout.”

Being that it was Red Sox-Yankees, folks were looking for any blood in the water. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Not sure Melancon was doing it, but I do think making the Red Sox less comfortable is a Girardi strategy.